A Cool Way To Teaching Marketing Plans

Marketing plans are a frequently tested area of BUSS3 and are normally very poorly answered with many students seeing the work marketing, writing everything they know about the marketing mix and failing so secure vital marks. Marketing plans can be a tricky topic to teach but here is a teaching and learning strategy that I used to allow students to understand marketing plans through a context they were all familiar with, my lessons.I had a discussion with my students explaining how I planned my lessons in so much that before I taught a topic I:Set learning objectivesDevelop a strategy to help me achieve these objectivesDevelop a range of activities to allow me to achieve the strategy (talking, whiteboards, questions, group work, card sorts, games)All of the above is also underpinned by research I have carried out, for example, looking through text books, looking through past papers, mark schemes examiners reports to gauge the depth I need to go into and teach atIn pairs, I then set the students the following question:'I spend a considerable amount of time planning my lessons. In every lesson I knowexactly what I am going to do, and what I want to achieve. 1 Why is detailed lesson planning important? What are the benefits?2 What are the limitations of planning my lessons in so much detail? The answers to the above also relate perfectly to the development of a businesses marketing plan. For example, detailed lesson planning:Allows me to think ahead and anticipate potential problems therefore reducing the risk of a poor lessonSetting objectives provides a sense of directionSetting objectives helps ensure appropriate strategies and activities are developedAllows me to review progressBut.....The business world is constantly changing meaning by next year, my lesson plan is out of dateIts time consuming and therefore there is an opportunity cost issueCan reduce teaching flexibility if I stick to the lesson plan to rigidlyMy lesson plan soon becomes out of date due to the dynamic nature of the business environmentWe then discussed some other issues that affect the success of my lessons (again, these relate perfectly to marketing plans)Depends on the level of research I carried outDepends on my budget and the level of resources I have in the classroomPeople issues in the class could disrupt the lesson planSo there we have it, marketing plans delivered via a context all students will have experience of